Input Substitution,Productivity Performance and Farm Size

This paper develops a theoretical model to examine the relationship between the input elasticity of (technical) substitution and both farm total factor productivity and size. In the presence of ongoing technical change and its factor bias, the ‘income effect’ arising from farms' cost minimising behaviour enables them to increase productivity by saving inputs or, through the dual equivalent, enlarging farm size. As such, farms with higher elasticities of substitution tend to grow larger and become more productive, which provides a new mechanism through which farm heterogeneity in productivity growth can be examined. Empirical evidence from Australian broadacre agriculture supports this theory and points to important policy implications.     

Farm Input, Farm Output and Retail Food Prices: A Cointegration Analysis

This paper investigates the adjustment mechanism between farm input prices, farm output prices and food retail prices in Canada. Johansen's maximum likelihood approach is used in addition to the Engle-Granger approach to test for cointegration. Contrary to the common assumption that farm output prices are more flexible than farm input prices, it is found that farm output prices, though cointegrated, are weakly exogenous in the sense that they do not respond in a systematic manner to disequilibrium in farm input prices and retail food prices. Evidence is found to support “cost push” and “demand pull” theories but, since food retail prices carry a heavier weight in the cointegration relations, it can be concluded that shocks manifesting themselves (first) at the retail level do not persist as long. Cet ouvrage se concentre sur le mécanisme d'ajustement entre les prix des intrants à la ferme, les prix payés aux producteurs agricoles et les prix de l'alimentation au détail au Canada. Les techniques développées par Johansen et par Engle et Granger sont utilisées pour vérifier des hypothèses reliées à la cointegration. Contrairement à la présomption que les prix payés aux agriculteurs sont plus flexibles que les prix de leurs intrants, on a découvert que les prix payés aux agriculteurs, bien que cointégrés, sont exogènes au moindre degré dans le sens qu'ils ne s'ajustent pas en fonction du déséquilibre dans les prix des intrants et les prix de l'alimentation au detail. La théorie voulant que les prix montent à cause des hausses dans les prix des intrants est vérifiée de même que la théorie alternative voulant que les ajustements des prix se fassent du détail aux intrants. Fluctuations occasionées par des changements dans les prix de l'alimentation au détail sont dissipées plus rapidement que les ajustements causés par des variations dans les prix des intrants.     

The Future Role of the Farm Management Expert

Farmers need more accurate and useful information. They must also improve their decision-making skills. The farm management expert's main challenge will be to perform more like a coach than a general. As a professional, he/she must be guided by a consistent and honorable set of principles, with the ability to inspire and motivate others. Finally, to be successful, he/she must know his/her customers, know their habits, attitudes, biases and dissatisfactions and recognize these differences. In a nutshell, the farm management expert of the future must tailor his/her services to the new market.     

The Future Role of the Farm Business Management Expert

Farm management is a task performed only by managers of farms. It is not undertaken by those who write about it, teach it, or give advice on it. (Giles and Stansfleld 1980, 187)     

Gender and agricultural productivity: implications of the Farm Input Subsidy Program in Malawi

Alleviating gender differences in agricultural productivity is vital for poverty reduction. While numerous studies suggest that gender differences in agricultural productivity are a result of female farmers having limited access to resources, few studies investigate the role of agricultural interventions in alleviating the constraints to input use and subsequently the gender gap in productivity. This study investigates whether there are gendered gains in agricultural productivity from participating in an input subsidy program and if these gains help reduce the gender gap. Using nationally representative data that is disaggregated at the plot level, this study analyzes the large‐scale voucher‐based Farm Input Subsidy Program in Malawi. Focusing on the total value of output per hectare, relationships are identified using weighted estimators, where the weights are constructed from propensity scores, and spatial fixed effects, to address the unobservable factors that may confound the relationship between program participation and productivity. The findings suggest that participation in the program improves agricultural productivity for both male and female farmers but it does not provide disproportionate help to female famers to overcome gender disparities in agricultural productivity. This suggests that female farmers face additional constraints to productivity apart from nonlabor input use.     

社区基金在农村可持续发展中的作用

中荷扶贫项目资金的主体是赠款。在改善农村基础设施和提供社会服务等方面,无偿的资金援助具有很大的优越性。但对于以农户为单位的到户扶贫项目,则存在使用效率低、缺乏持续性等问题。受国内小额信贷扶贫和贵州省草海“村寨发展基金”项目的启发,1998年中荷扶贫项目设计了“社区基金”并开始试点。     

Farm Business and Household Expenditure Patterns and Local Communities: Evidence from a National Farm Survey

Farm operators are an integral part of some rural economies. The businesses they operate support jobs and purchase goods and services from local implement and input suppliers. Farm household spending on food, furniture and appliances, trucks and automobiles, and a range of consumer goods also supports local jobs and retail businesses. Based on the 2004 Agricultural Resource Management Survey, the linkages between farm household and business expenditures and communities are explored. Farms in urban areas purchase household goods in markets closest to the farmstead, but traveled further to purchase farm business items. The opposite pattern was observed in rural locations.     

论社区领导者已然与应然角色

社区领导者已然角色应定位为完全执行者、部分服务者、一般协调者;社区领导者应然角色应定位为服务者、协调者、文化缔造维护者与凝聚者。通过对社区领导者已然角色与应然角色的定位,为从事社区管理的领导者提供一定的理论依据和现实指导。     

The Effects of Alternative Methods of Crow Benefit Payment on Economic Rents of Farm Input Suppliers in Western Canada

This paper uses a multi-market partial equilibrium model to assess the impact of selected alternative methods of payment of the Crow Benefit on the economic welfare of farm input suppliers for the feed grain sector in western Canada. the model is calibrated using data representative of the period from 1986 to 1988. Inputs are grouped into categories of land, labor, machinery and buildings, and other purchased inputs. Impacts of alternative policy regimes are found to differ substantially by the characteristics of the particular policy proposal and also by the nature of the input in question. Input suppliers would be worse off under the method of payment embodied in the so-called Gilson, 50:50 and Agricultural Diversification Alliance proposals, but would be better off under the Grain Trasportation Refund plan. Adverse impacts on landowne welfare, measured as percentage change in economic rents received, would be larger than the effects on other input suppliers, in some cases exceeding 10% of the rents received under the status quo. L'étude utilise un modèle multi-marchéàéquilibre partiel pour évaluer les incidences de diverses méthodes de paiement du montant compensatoire du Nid-de-Corbeau sur la situation économique des agrofournisseurs du secteur des céréles de provendes dans l'ouest du Canads. Le modèle est étalonné au moyen de données représentatives d'une période allant de 1986 à 1988. Les intrants sont groupés en catégories: fonds de terre, main-d'oeuvre, machinerie et bâtiments et autres fournitures achetées. Les effets des divers régimes diffèrent sensiblement par les caractères du projet do politique et aussi par la nature des intrants en question. La situation des fournisseurs serait empirée si l'on emploie la méthode de paicment comprise dans les programmes Gilson, 50:50 et Agricultural Diversification Alliance, mais elle serait meilleure avec le plan de remboursement sur le transport du grain. Les effets négatifs sur la situation des propriétaires de terre, mesurés par le changement en pourcentage du loiyer économique reçu, étaient plus importants que les effets sur les autres catégories d'agrofournisseurs, dépassant parfois 10% du loye reçu dans le régime actuel.     

论农业适度规模经营风险及其特征

一般认为,农业适度规模经营风险较农户小规模经营要低。本文对此提出了新的看法:与农户小规模经营相比,农业适度规模经营在某些方面反而增加了经营的风险。围绕这一观点,文章进行了深入分析,并提出了防范的基本思路。     

The Impact of Government Programs and Land Characteristics on Cropping Patterns

Acreage response equations for nine major crops of Wisconsin are estimated to determine the impacts of government programs and site characteristics (e.g., soil types, slope and rainfall) on cropping patterns. Site characteristics account for more than twice as much acreage variation as the economic and policy variables. Three policy simulations are conducted: ? a 10% reduction in the target price for corn; ? an increase in the Acreage Reduction Program (ARP) rate for corn from 10% to 20%; and ? a 10% increase in chemical price, due, for example, to a tax. Reducing the target price for com would result in both a land reallocation among the nine crops and a reduction in total acreage. However, adjusting the ARP rate for corn would affect mainly the land allocation, and a tax on chemical use would generally reduce the total acreage of the nine crops. The results suggest that all three policies would be effective overall in reducing the total acreage of the chemical-intensive crops and thus would reduce the potential for groundwater pollution. This article also develops and uses a method to correct heteroscedasticity, autocorrelation, and contemporaneous correlation that may arise in a set of seemingly unrelated equations. Des équations d'évolution prévisible des surfaces affectées aux cultures de neuf principaux vivriers de Wisconsin sont estimées afin de déterminer l'impact des programmes gouvemementaux et des types de terre (par exemple, types de sols, pente et pluviométrie) sur les modèles de cultures vivrières. Comparés aux variables économiques etpolitiques, les types de terre comptent pour plus du double dans la variation des surfaces affectées aux cultures. Trois plans de simulation sont conduits: ? une réduction de 10% du prix objectif du maïs; ? une augmentation du taux ARP (Programme de réduction des surfaces affectées aux cultures) de 10%à 20% pour le maïs; ? et une augmentation de 10% du prix des produits chimiques, due, par exemple, à une taxe. La réduction du prix objectif du maïs entraînerait la redistribution des surfaces affectéees aux cultures des neuf vivriers, et la réduction des surfaces totales cultivées. Cependant, un réglage du taux ARP pour le maïs affecterait principalement la distribution des surfaces affectées aux cultures, et une taxe sur l'utilisation des produits chimiques en général réduirait les surfaces totales affectées aux cultures des neuf vivriers considérés. Les résultats suggèrent que les trois plans réduiront effectivement les surfaces totales cultivées pour les vivriers dont la production nécessite une utilisation intensive de produits chimiques. Ce qui par conséquent, réduirait le danger potentiel de pollution des eaux souterraines. De plus, cet article développe et utilise une méthode de correction des problèmes d'hétéroscédasticité, d'autocorrélation, et de corrélation contemporaine qui peuvent provenir de groupe d'équations apparemment non liées.     

国外农产品批发市场发展特点及对我国的启示

通过实地考察,本文对国外农产品批发市场的特点进行了初步的概括和总结,并与国内同类市场的实际情况和行业现状进行对比分析,以期从中得到一些启示。     

Thinking Styles and Financial Characteristics of Selected Canadian Farm Managers

The thinking styles of selected Canadian farm managers are identified using the life styles inventory (LSI). The farmers'LSI scores are compared with those of a base sample of nonfarmers, and correlations between the farmers'LSI scores and financial indicators are examined. Results indicate that farmers do thinking differently than nonfarmers and that there are significant correlations between thinking styles and financial measures.     

中国农户信贷特征及其影响因素分析

本文通过2001年全国范围内的农户抽样调查资料对农户信贷活动情况以及农户获得信贷的影响因素展开分析。采用统计分析和计量分析的方法得出以下结论：近年来农户信贷服务状况并没有得到明显改善，非正规信贷依然是最主要的来源，正规信贷来源进一步缩小。而影响农户获得信贷资金的因素主要包括：户主年龄、家庭的财产状况、非农就业人数、正规贷款用途以及地区经济条件等。     

小城镇工业用地空间扩张的方式与特征

小城镇工业用地扩张是我国近年土地利用／覆被变化的重要内容之一。小城镇工业用地空间扩张的方式为：飞地式扩张、沿线式扩张、斑块式扩张、散点式扩张;而空间扩张特征表现为：扩张速度快、占城镇用地比重高;非均衡推进;缓慢的分散→集中性;边缘扩张性;阶段性;交通导向性。     

Tests for the Role of Risk Aversion on Input Use

For risk-averting agents, risks alter production decisions while the existence of institutions to insure against adverse states of nature will likely restore decisions toward levels under risk neutrality. In this article, conditions are identified on a stochastic technology to test   H^rn _0,≤  : that risk averters choose smaller input levels than risk neutral agents, and   H^ra _0,≤  : that an increase in risk aversion reduces input use. A robust statistical method to test for dominance is adapted to stochastic production relations. It is found that   H^rn _0,≤  is likely true for nitrogen application on Iowa corn. Weaker evidence is found in favor of   H^ra _0,≤  .     

东北林业大学实验林场蒙古栎扩散与松鼠的关系

2009年12月～2010年11月,在东北林业大学哈尔滨实验林场,研究了林场内蒙古栎扩散与松鼠的关系.结果表明:东北林业大学哈尔滨实验林场内蒙古栎扩散是由松鼠分散贮食的结果;松鼠食物的贮藏点与距离有关,大部分在距离蒙古栎母树林100m范围内;松鼠喜欢在樟子松、兴安落叶松、白桦林中贮藏食物;人类的活动对松鼠贮食生境的选择有干扰.